


Leaders of Men

by AderaReam



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M, POV Multiple, Uther doesn't know how it got to this point, a different sort of outsider POV fic, and it aint Uther, mostly Uther's POV, neither does arthur, we all know who really rules Camelot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-08-31 02:50:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8560672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AderaReam/pseuds/AderaReam
Summary: With Arthur and Uther down for the count after a battle with some sorcerers, who's going to step up to lead Camelot?





	1. Incising Incident

 

Uther had just settled down to eat when five rogue sorcerers burst through his windows. _Why do they never just come through the door…. Or teleport?_ Was his first thought.

“Knights! At arms!” Was a close second. Leaping into action, Uther drew his own sword, charging towards what seemed to be the leader of the group. He was tossed back to the other side of the room with a wave of the man’s hand and a word.

He let out a gasp as the wind was knocked out of him as he landed. He heard a crack. _Damn, I am getting too old to be getting broken ribs. Damned sorcerers._ He thought, teeth grit as he tried to get his feet back under him. He vaguely registered Arthur’s cry of fury, and looked up to see him skewering the lead sorcerer in the chest. His grin of satisfaction was quickly replaced with a shout of horror as Arthur fell to a different sorcerer’s spell.

Uther had picked himself up by this point and lunged at the sorcerer, only to be hit once again, this time in his right leg. He howled in pain and anger as he fell once more, jarring his injured ribs.

Uther could barely think through the haze of pain and rage that clouded his mind, as well as the noise of the room. Eventually the noise drifted off and so did the pain, which Uther was dimly aware was not a good thing. He flopped his head over to the other side of the room to see Merlin hovering over a still unconscious Arthur.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Merlin was beside himself with worry for Arthur. His breathing was normal and he appeared to be perfectly fine, but he was not waking up. Merlin had made sure that the knights captured and did not kill the sorcerer who had done this to Arthur, just in case they needed him to reverse it. And they would reverse it, Merlin vowed, one way or another. Looking around, he saw the dead or incapacitated sorcerers being taken away by some of the Knights, while others gathered around him and Arthur.

“Percival?” Merlin asked, suddenly tired, probably from the battle high, “Can you take Arthur up to his chambers?”

Percival nodded and scooped Arthur up gently. It was only as he made his way out of the room and left an unblocked area of Merlin’s vision that he saw the state of the king.

“Lancelot, Gwaine, help me with the king!” He cried, leaping to his feet and rushing over. The knights looked around and gasped when they saw, but moved quickly. Merlin had already ripped the bottom part of Uther’s trouser leg to make a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Once he had done that he had checked over the rest of the king, making note of the broken ribs and general bruising. “Pick him up and take him to his chambers.” Lancelot and Gwaine hurried to comply, lifting the king between them and hauling him up to his rooms.

Laying him down on his bed, the two stepped back to let Merlin, who had rushed in with Gaius’s bags and Gaius in tow. Gaius was quick and efficient with getting Uther’s clothes off to inspect the damage. He gave Uther a poultice and wrapped his ribs before turning to Merlin who had appeared behind him with a heated knife.

“I am sorry, Sire, but this will hurt. Gentlemen, hold him, if you would.” The two knights did as they were told, pinning Uther to the bed. Gaius quickly undid the tourniquet on Uther's leg and held the knife to it to cauterize the wound. Uther screamed and jerked in the knights grip until finally it was over and he sagged back, unconcious.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The first thing that Uther registered was pain. He grunted quietly, squinting his eyes at the light. His leg felt like fire and he faintly recalled it getting hit by a sorcerer’s spell. He squinted around his room and saw Gaius sitting in the chair next to his bed, asleep. He would have woken his friend up, if only to get him to give him some water but found himself unable to utter any words or move more than a twitch.

Thankfully, Gaius’s ward chose that moment to slip into the room. The boy smiled at his sleeping guardian, and with more grace than Uther thought he possessed, slipped around the physician’s sleeping form to fill the goblet on Uther’s table and bring it to him. They boy held it steady as he drank, pulling it away when Uther had indicated he had had enough.

“Gaius” Uther called, voice still sore, but Gaius only shifted in his sleep. The boy reached over and shook his mentor gently to wake him. Gaius startled awake and looked briefly to the boy before turning to an awake and increasingly irritated Uther.

“Sire,” and Uther was glad for the low tone of his voice “how are you feeling?”

“Like someone has shoved glass in my eyes, throat, chest, and leg. Boy, get those curtains closed.” He growled. Merlin turned away to do as bid, shutting the curtains gently. Uther was vaguely grateful to the consideration for his pounding head. Not that he would admit to such a thing.

“Well, let us see what we have got then.” Gaius went through checking Uther’s pupils and his pulse. He looked over the bandages on Uther’s torso, but when he drew back the bedding Uther inhaled sharply. For there, where there had once been shin, ankle, and foot, was now nothing but a stump. Uther wanted to howl in rage. He wanted blood. He wanted to dismember that sorcerer personally and over many months.

“If it is any consolation, your Majesty.” That was the boy. Uther whipped his head around to glare at him. The young man continued undeterred. “That sorcerer, the one who did this to you, is still alive in the dungeons. He was kept for questioning.” Uther narrowed his eyes.

“Questioning. For what?”

“For what spell he used on Arthur, Sire.”

“What?” The king roared, almost leaping out of bed before Gaius and Merlin wrestled him back in. The boy was stronger than he looked.

“Arthur is fine Sire.” Merlin shouted over his struggling. Uther went still. Merlin leaned back but looked ready to spring forward again to restrain him at any moment. It was only the boy’s capacity as physicians apprentice and Uther’s own state and desire to hear what had befallen Arthur that stopped Uther from calling the guards on Merlin to toss him in the dungeons for keeping him in his bed.

When Merlin seemed sure that Uther would not be making another move to get up, he relaxed and continued.

“We do not know what spell hit Arthur, Sire, but it has left him physically unharmed. The only thing wrong with him is that he refuses to wake.” The boy’s eyes went dark with worry (and something else that absolutely did not make Uther shiver) and Uther tried to ignore the implications of that look as he had every other time. _Too loyal to just be loyal_ , Uther thought.

“And who is doing the questioning?” Uther asked imperiously.

“Sir Leon, at first.” The boy said, helping Gaius clean up his belongings strewn about the room. “Morgana has insisted on having the next go.”

Uther felt some vicious satisfaction at that. Morgana was a force of nature at the best of times, she would probably make the sorcerer spill all of his secrets just by looking at him. Once all of Gaius’ things were packed away, he left a bottle of his pain potion on the side table.

“Now only drink half.” He said, raising his dreaded eyebrow. “And nothing strenuous for a good long while, Sire.”

“Gaius, I have a kingdom to run. I cannot exactly leave it to Arthur as I recover, now can I?” Gaius did not look impressed.

“Sire, the council will have everything well in hand until we can get Arthur back, and you are going to be recovering for months including the time it will take for you to have a prosthetic leg made and to learn to walk on it properly.” Uther grudgingly subsided, knowing none of his arguments would go anywhere. After all, it was not like he could hold council sessions or audiences in his bed chambers. Reluctantly he dismissed Gaius, realizing that the boy had already gone, and laid back in his pillows. Soon enough, his own manservant came in bearing a tray of fruit and light foods. He was quiet as he went about his work, quiet and unobtrusive. _As a servant should be_ , Uther thought.

When Uther woke once more it was to a pounding headache. Thankfully the curtains were closed this time around. Uther was irritated to see that his manservant was nowhere to be found even though the light he could see coming under the curtains meant it was at least late morning. He moved to get out of bed before pain shot up his right leg and he let out an involuntary shout.

The door burst open, and there was Arthur’s manservant leading a few of the knights inside his chambers without so much as a by your leave. As soon as Uther had enough breath in his lungs he would order the boy put in the stocks.

“Sir Bohrs, Sir Pellinore, move the king back into his bed.” Uther was stunned to see the knights comply with no hesitation whatsoever. He even allowed himself to be moved without a fuss. His manservant came scurrying in behind them and waited with a tray of food and water out of the way.

The boy walked briskly to his side and set down a medicine bag on Uther’s bedside table.

“Sire, I am sorry but Gaius is not available to tend to you right now as he is still looking for a cure for Arthur. I need to check your bandages and see if you are healing properly.”

“You are no physician.” Uther sputtered. “I demand Gaius come attend to me at once.” He said with more authority this time. Damn the boy for being able to throw him off his guard. Speaking of the boy, he did not seem very impressed.

“All respect, Sire, but Arthur’s situation is a bit more dire than your own at the moment. Also, I have been training under Gaius for five years now, I am more than qualified to check that you are healing properly. I also have more of the pain potion but if you want me to take Gaius’s things back to him and bring him here…” _Damn the boy_.

“Fine. Make it quick.” The boy gave him a grin that made him look like a fool and set to work checking his bandages and re-wrapping his injuries. He actually did it with a degree of competence and efficiency that Uther had never seen in the boy before. Uther was stunned anew at seeing the knights take direction with the same efficiency and determination they had on the training field. Soon enough he was drinking another pain potion and letting his manservant feed him as he drifted in the pleasant haze the potion provided.

He was almost asleep when his door burst open yet again and Morgana swept inside, surprisingly sans maidservant.

“Uther.” Morgana pause for a moment before turning to Merlin. “Is he in a bad way?” Oh, she must think him asleep, his eyes were almost closed after all. He was going to correct her, if only he could find the energy.

“Not nearly as bad as he could have been.” Again, the boy had no concept of station, but no one but him seemed to mind.

“Well, the council has been called, what are we going to do about them without Uther or Arthur?” So his daughter did think he was worth something, good.

“You are going to have to sit in for them.”

“What, me?” She sounded shocked. “But the lords will never accept me on the council, even if only temporarily.” She said bitterly.

“They are going to have to.” The boy spoke with an assurance that was going to get him killed one of these days. “You are the highest ranking member of this court and de facto leader of Camelot with both King and Prince out of commission. You know as well as I do that Arthur declared you his heir should something happen to him.” He was going to have to talk to Arthur about that, while it comes in handy in this instance, he really should not declare an heir so young. It sets a bad precedent. Especially a female heir, even if it is Morgana.

“But-”

“Don’t worry, Morgana. I am going to be there taking notes for Arthur to look over once he comes back and Leon will sit in on the council as well.”

“Leon will be there?” That tone in her voice was going to have to be nipped in the bud, unfortunately. As much as Leon was an excellent knight, his daughter really should be marrying a prince.

“He will.” The boy confirmed, sly. Sly? Since when does Arthur’s manservant have more than two coins to rub together. “Oh, I need to make sure he does not go down to the training field to train the knights.”

“But who will train the knights if not Leon? He is Arthur’s second.” Uther heard two sets of footsteps moving towards the door.

“Elyan. He is a good teacher and it will be good for him to get some experience at leadership. Ah, Leon!” Another pair of footsteps coming towards his door, the boy must have waved Sir Leon down. How is it that none of them make a fuss? Leon is a knight and lord of Camelot for god's sake.

“Yes Merlin?” There seemed to almost be a tone of… respect? No, not possible. He was humouring the boy surely. This madness must have a limit.

“You, Morgana, and I are going to sit in on the council session today.” Surely now Sir Leon as a Knight of Camelot will put the ridiculous boy in his place.

“But who will train the knights then?” _This cannot be happening_.

“Elyan.” The boy was firm in this.

“Elyan? …. Good idea. I’ll send a boy to tell him. Shall we go, then?” Mad. They have all gone mad. Three sets of footsteps exited his room and the door closed softly behind them. Uther finally let himself succumb to sleep. He was sure this was only the product of his potion hazed mind, nothing more.

The door opened once more.

“Oh, Bohrs, Pellinore, make sure that you switch out with other knights on guard duty so you don’t overtax yourselves. We do not need any more men down.” That said, the boy closed the door once more on the knights sounds of affirmation. Just a dream. This was all just some mad dream. Uther slept.


	2. A Learning sort of Leader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uther is lucid and has a conversation with Merlin.

Uther slipped in and out of consciousness for a week. During that time he did not remember what went on in his chambers, he was rather grateful for it. When his body finally decided to stay awake for longer than it took to eat something and down one of Gaius’ pain potions he found Merlin beside his bed, switching out an empty potion bottle for a full one.

“How is Arthur?” The boy jumped, fumbling with the two bottles before catching them and setting the full one on Uther’s bedside table.

“Gaius thinks he has a lead on how to break the spell, but we don’t know yet what will happen, Sire.” 

“So the man finally talked?”

“Yes, Sire, apparently he refused to speak at first because he was embarrassed by the spell he had cast, claiming that he threw out a random enchantment because he had been startled.” The boy seemed nervous for some reason, it set Uther’s senses on alert.

“What sort of enchantment was it?”

“Oh, it is nothing serious, sire, Arthur is perfectly safe and sound and he will remain so-”

“What is the spell, boy.” Uther growled. His headache was returning listening to the boy babble.

“Oh, well it umm….” The boy trailed off, looking decidedly uncomfortable. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, supposedly steeling himself to get it all over with. “It is a spell that puts him in an enchanted sleep until his true love gives him a kiss to wake him up.” 

“...what?” Uther asked, low, dangerous. They boy looked at him helplessly.

“That is what the sorcerer said sire, and Gaius seems to agree with him. Arthur suffers no pain, injury, or anything else, he simply will not wake.”

“So am I to march every eligible woman in Camelot, in possibly all of Albion, through my son’s chambers and have them all kiss him until I find the right one?” he cried. The boy’s face was doing a strange thing that looked like he could not decide between laughter and… despair? Jealousy? Some mix of the two? Something else? It was impossible to tell. Uther despaired a bit that he could not read the face of even the simplest of boys. He was starting to lose his touch.

“Gaius is working on it, as I said before, there will be no need for all of the fanfare. The quieter we keep the details of Arthur’s enchantment, the safer he will be.” The boy said dully.

“True, it would be bad for some social climbing harpy to find her way into Arthur’s room and break the spell.” The boy gave him an odd look. “What? What is it, boy?” Still, he hesitated.

“Out with it, your king commands it.” At that the boy seemed almost mutinous but before Uther could have him thrown in the dungeons for impudence, the boy sent a shot straight to his heart.

“Do you really think Arthur would fall in love with someone like that? With a ‘social climbing harpy’?” He was serious in his question, and something about that expression compelled Uther to answer.

“No. He has changed in recent years, I believe he will choose a suitable bride.”

“We were not talking of brides and choices, Sire, but of love. Do you believe Arthur would love someone like that?” The boy was quiet for once, sincere. He seemed almost devastated that Uther could think such a thing.

“...No. Like I said, he has changed.” Merlin cocked his head, like the bird for which he was named, and turned to leave. The gesture made him look thoughtful instead of simple. When the boy had made it to the door he looked over at Uther one more time.

“Has Arthur changed, or has he stopped pretending?” And with that parting shot, the boy left, closing Uther’s door lightly. 

Uther sat there, completely bowled over. He thought on that conversation for the rest of the day and well into the evening, examining it from all angles and in all lights. If he could have stood up he would have paced a track into the stone floor thinking.  _ How have I missed this? How did I miss the intelligence behind those eyes? _ He thought of Gaius, of Arthur, of their almost uncanny regard for this boy. He thought of the dream that probably was not actually a dream and of the ease in which  _ his own daughter _ took direction from a mere servant and one that seemed simple at that. One thing was for sure, he would have to keep a very careful eye on Merlin from now on.  _ Too loyal to just be loyal, I was right.  _ Uther would be wary now that he knew, Merlin was planning something. Merlin was dangerous. Uther was determined to be ready.


	3. A Loving Sort of Leader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enchantment broken...

If Leon were to guess, he would say that the stress of Arthur under an unknown enchantment was beginning to wear on Merlin. For the past month, Merlin had been progressively more twitchy and distant. The lad spent nearly all of his time at Arthur’s side (not that he didn’t usually, but now it was much more pronounced.) Leon had quietly taken it upon himself to see that Merlin ate, because between keeping the castle in order, keeping everyone on track, running errands for Gaius (they really did need to get a dedicated errand boy for Gaius, he would talk to Guinevere about it later) and watching over Arthur, Merlin was dead on his feet often passing out on the side of Arthur’s bed. That couldn’t be good for his back.

 

Leon had just entered Arthur’s chambers, plate in hand, to see Merlin shoot up from where he was leaning over Arthur.

 

“Sir Leon!” Merlin exclaimed, eyes already flicking back towards Arthur’s prone form.

 

“I brought you some food, Merlin,” he said, setting it down at Arthur’s table, “Come, eat, before it gets cold.” Leon watched as Merlin seemed to struggle with something, before dashing over and sitting down in Arthur’s chair, clamping his hands on the armrests and still refusing to take his eyes off of Arthur. More than worried now, Leon laid a hand on Merlin’s shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. “He’ll be alright, Merlin. He’ll come back to us soon enough.”

 

While his words seemed to do nothing to sooth the poor manservant, Merlin snapped out of it enough to start eating, still not daring to remove his eyes from Arthur and not seeming to taste or even chew what he was putting in his mouth. Merlin stopped. Leon gently encouraged him once more. When Merlin stopped eating again, Leon decided that his friend wouldn’t starve and took the plate away, handing it to a passing servant before going off to find Guinevere.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Gwen was about ready to haul Merlin bodily into Gaius’ chambers and strap him to a bed herself. That is, if she thought it would actually do anything other than make Merlin panic and hurt himself in his need to get back to the Prince. Merlin had been looking sick and even thinner than usual for a month and a half. He refused to talk to her, often giving her haunted looks. She didn’t want to admit it, but it hurt.

 

Sometimes, he looked like he was about ready to say something to her, but whenever he opened his mouth he grew so pale, looked so sick and frightened and hurt that when he inevitably clamped his mouth shut she never pushed. No matter how much she wanted to, no matter how much she ached so take him by the shoulders and shout _“WHAT IS IT? WHAT’S WRONG? WHAT IS SO HORRIBLY PAINFUL THAT YOU CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO SPEAK OF IT?”_ She wanted to cry at how desolate he looked after one of those episodes. She wanted him to trust her with it. She wanted her friend to not be in so much pain.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Merlin didn’t know what he was doing. Ever since he found out that the spell called for True Love’s Kiss he had been in a state of agony. In some of his more lucid moments, when he was near Arthur and things felt mostly right again, he could admit that the situation was a difficult one. He needed to talk Gwen into kissing Arthur again, he knew that, but Gwen and Lancelot’s relationship had been getting better and he didn’t want to hurt his friends, but he had no idea how that relationship could survive when Gwen was destined to be Queen. It was all a mess. And, in his most honest moments, he knew what stayed his hand and stopped his voice cold in his throat. He looked down at Arthur’s peaceful face and could admit, only to himself, only ever to himself because this was not okay, that he didn’t want Gwen to break the spell. He wanted it to be him. He wanted to kiss Arthur and have him look at him with love. The love that Merlin feels destroying him slowly.

 

He wants to kiss Arthur, just once, just to know what it’s like. Merlin both loved and hated Leon for when he came in earlier and kept him from giving into the urge. Now, though, there was no one to stop him and he could feel a tug in his chest drawing him to lean down…

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

The first thing Arthur registered were the lips on his. They were warm and a bit chapped, but somehow the best he’d ever felt. It took a few moments to return the kiss, but when he did the person kissing him pressed harder and licked their way into his mouth completely surprising him with the onslaught. Arthur gave as good as he got though and pushed back, sliding his hand into short hair and pulling the other closer too… wait. Short hair?

 

Arthur opened his eyes and pulled out of the kiss with a gasp. There, less than a foot in front of him was Merlin, lips swollen and hair a mess and panting. Arthur realized that he still had his fingers in Merlin’s hair and ripped his hand away. Merlin whimpered slightly, if it was from the loss of contact or if Arthur accidentally pulled some of his hair, he didn’t care at the moment.

 

“What the hell is-” Arthur started but Merlin cut him off rapidly.

 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean… I didn’t... I’m so sorry I know this is confusing and you don’t know what’s happening and I really don’t either, but I promise, I swear to you on everything either of us care about that I will explain everything, absolutely everything to you I promise but right now I need you to stay in here.” Merlin was pleading with his eyes and Arthur was fairly certain that he was about to see Merlin drop to his knees and actually start begging.

 

“Merlin, I can’t just stay in here, I have to-”

 

“Okay, alright you don’t have to stay in here,” Merlin said frantically. “But, please, please, say that you woke up alone. If anyone asks, you don’t know how you woke up, there was no one with you, you just did. Promise me, please Arthur.” And Arthur had always had a problem with saying no to an upset Merlin.

 

“Fine. I promise.” Merlin sighed in relief. Arthur grabbed him by the arm before the other man could move away. “But you better keep your promise and tell me what the hell is going on here.”

 

“Yes, of course. Just as soon as I can. I need to… check on something first, but I’ll have all of your answers by tonight, Arthur. Promise.” He stared into Merlin’s eyes, looking for any hint of insincerity, and as usual, could find none. Slowly, as if unwilling to be parted for long, and was this a product of what had just happened or something deeper, he let go of Merlin’s arm. “Thank you.” Merlin said breathlessly as he turned to sprint out of the room and down the hall.

 

Arthur watched him go and tried to sort out his own feelings. Quickly giving up on that endeavor, he instead went searching out answers. As he made his way through the halls of the castle he was greeted by shouts of awe and welcome wherever he went. News spread quickly and soon enough he had his arms full of adopted sister as Morgana rushed to hug him.

 

“Morgana, can you tell me what’s happened? The last thing I remember was getting hit by a spell. I was going to Gaius to get some answers.”

 

“Well then, I shall accompany you.” She looped her arm through his and began talking about what has been happening the past month, Month!, he’d been asleep. She talked of her fights with the council and Leon coming to her rescue, and damn, now he was going to owe Merlin money, and he notice the careful omission of anything to do with his father, who he remembered was also hit by a spell. Suddenly overwhelmed with dread, he asked:

 

“Morgana, is my father, is the king alive?” Morgana’s steps only paused the slightest fraction of a second.

 

“No, he is alive and well… if not in one piece.” That pronouncement only cause him more concern.

 

“Morgana.”

 

“He lost a leg, Arthur, it’s not the end of the world.” She said, seemingly deciding that flippancy was the best route. Now it was Arthur’s turn to pause.

 

“A leg?”

 

“Yes, Arthur, his right leg below the knee no longer there, but he’s fine. Stubborn old goat has already started walking again. Although the prosthetic limits that somewhat.”

 

Arthur sighed in relief and turned back to where they had just arrived at the physician's chambers. Knocking on the door, Arthur entered at Gaius’s call, and had to keep from laughing at the physician’s thunderstruck look. Quickly, Arthur was ushered inside with Morgana left on the other side of the door so that Gaius could perform a full physical assessment and both he and Arthur could assuage their curiosity. Arthur hated lying to Gaius, especially after what he learned, but he still made a promise and knew that Merlin would keep his, no matter how much Arthur was starting to believe he didn’t want to know.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Kilgarrah hadn’t heard of any magical catastrophe hitting Camelot as of late and as such wasn’t that concerned when he was summoned by the Dragonlord.

 

He revised his opinion when he landed in their usual clearing and saw the young Warlock standing there and looking very, very calm. A very tightly controlled calm. The kind of calm that can freeze entire armies in their tracks, sort of calm. Kilgarrah thought it best to err on the side of caution and gave the Dragonlord a small bow before speaking.

 

“Why have you called me here, young Warlock?” He asked carefully. Those eyes drove into his own.

 

“Did you lie to me?” It was a question, but it was almost a statement. Kilgarrah suddenly flashed back to every lie or partial truth he had ever told the warlock and suddenly wondered if everything was going to go up in flames. He wondered if he would still be around to see it.

 

“Did you lie to me when you said the enchantment on Arthur and Princess Vivian could only be broken by True Love’s Kiss?” Oh. Oh no. Tread lightly, Kilgarrah, tread lightly.

 

“I-”

 

“ _Tell me the truth_.” There was no dragon power behind the command, no magic. Just power.

 

“Yes. I did.”

 

“ _Why._ ” Kilgarrah swallowed.

 

“Because the Once and Future Queen…”

 

“Is in love with another man.” Merlin cut him off. Eyes shrewd. “You wanted me to set them up, to keep them together for some sort of prophecy, didn’t you.”

 

“It is what must happen.” The man laughed, it was an ugly thing.

 

“What, like Morgana has to be evil? That didn’t work out very well did it?” He asked mockingly. Kilgarrah had to concede that the witch’s future had seemed brighter as of late, but he can’t see what that means for albion, which concerns him.

 

“Do you know of any spells that _do_ require True Love’s Kiss to break?”

 

“Only one,” Kilgarrah capitulated, “It is one that puts one partner into an enchanted sleep until the other one comes to wake them.” He eyed the young warlock, who seemed to be struggling with himself, before making his face as blank as he could.

 

“Get out of my sight.” Was all the young man said before he turned on his heel and quit the clearing. Kilgarrah launched himself into the sky, still feeling as if the worst, for him at least, was yet to come and that he would have to do a lot of grovelling in the near future.

 

...Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm not dead! And I'm going to be trying to update this and my other works more frequently, but we'll see how that goes.


End file.
